Hextech Protobelt-01: The DFG problem
A look into how the new Hextech item shares the same problem that led to the removal of DFG
With the recent mage update came various changes to AP items along with a few new ones, including the one that will be discussed in this article, Hextech Protobelt-01. Initially this item seemed like a niche item that could help mages that are usually immobile to chase down a kill that they couldn’t completely finish off or to close the gap and start a fight in favor of their team. However, soon assassins began to build this item as well and using it in a different way, as they took advantage of the huge potential burst damage given through the active. Why did this happen? The answer lies within an item that is no longer in the game: Deathfire Grasp, better known as DFG.
The Problem with DFG
When DFG was first put into the game, its purpose was to assist assassins and burst mages such as Fizz and Veigar in killing tanks that they would otherwise have trouble dealing with. But instead, the item slowly became an extra tool for assassins to absolutely decimate squishy carries before they can contribute to a fight. As the item became a bigger issue within the game, Riot made the decision to remove it from the game and replaced it with the item Luden’s Echo. With its removal, the DFG users mourned the loss of their great item while ADC mains around the world breathed a sigh of relief, for the assassin era was officially over.
The Problem with Hextech Protobelt-01
At first glance, the usage for Hextech Protobelt-01 is pretty obvious. It allows immobile mages such as Fiddlesticks and mages that need to close the gap like Kennen another mobility option other than their Flash to accomplish their goal in a teamfight. While the initial goal is being met by this item, the problem comes in at the second part of its active: “and unleash a nova of fire bolts that deal 75 – 150 (+ 35% AP) as magic damage." This part of the active seems out of place and it allows champions like Fizz and Katarina regain the extra burst they lost with the removal of DFG. While it’s harder to land, the damage is guaranteed to be a high amount (hitting all seven rockets that fire in front of you allows you to deal 165 - 330 (+77% AP) damage as each additional rocket’s damage is reduced by 20%) while DFG required additional damage on top of it for it to become effective.
Possible Solutions
While the easy way out of this is for Riot to get rid of the damage portion of the active all together, it would cause an issue by removing an item that slightly diversified the item pool for AP assassins. It’s best to figure out what this item should be doing and how we can change it to make it less attractive to assassin users without removing it as a potential option, while making it a better item for mages that need to close the gap. Obviously the whole purpose of this item is to close the gap for mages that are capable of starting a fight with their abilities, such as Annie and Kennen. While this is a useful feature for assassins, an extra dash to ensure they stick to their targets, it’s clearly the damage that makes it the item that is great for them. Through this, an option Riot has is to make it similar to the other Hextech items. Lower the damage on the bolt, but add a slowing effect to them. While some of the raw stats the item provides may have to be lowered, it allows both types of users of this item to keep using it and accomplish what they want to, but at the same time making the item feel closer to its original goal of being used as a gap closer.
Conclusion
It’s clear that the current version of Hextech Protobelt-01 is a problem, but it still remains unclear if Riot will be doing anything about it. The main problem lies in the fact that instead of the original purpose of helping champions like Kennen close the gap in order to initiate a fight, the item as become an additional source of burst for assassins that can get close enough to hit all 7 bolts that shoot forward. Essentially, like DFG, the item strayed away from its original purpose and simply became another source of burst for AP assassins. While it’s understandable that the damage portion of the active was included in order to allow the item to fit in with the “Hextech” item set, it still feels completely out of place considering the original goal that was previously mentioned. Along with this there are other options to achieving this goal, as previously mentioned. While the solution to fixing the problem is as easy as removing the damage portion of the active, that would cause another issue as the item pool for AP assassins is lacking diversity in items. It will be interesting to see how Riot changes this item in the future as it’s currently an item that deals more damage than most of us would like to see.
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